Dig Dis Sci 1996 Aug;41(8):1672-1677

Interferon-alpha therapy may induce insulin autoantibody development in patients with chronic viral hepatitis.

di Cesare E, Previti M, Russo F, Brancatelli S, Ingemi MC, Scoglio R, Mazzu N, Cucinotta D, Raimondo G

Department of Internal Medicine, University of Messina, Italy.

Development of type 1 insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus has been recently reported in patients who underwent interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) therapy because of chronic viral hepatitis. Furthermore IFN-alpha seems to be involved in the immunological events that lead to beta-cell destruction and development of type 1 diabetes. To evaluate whether IFN-alpha treatment could elicit an autoimmune response against beta-cell antigens, we determined the occurrence of islet cell antibodies and insulin autoantibodies in the sera of 60 patients with HCV- or HBV-related chronic hepatitis who had been treated with IFN-alpha for 6 or 12 months. The presence of antibodies against thyroglobulin, thyroid microsomal antigen, gastric parietal cells, and non-organ-specific antigens was also investigated. Insulin autoantibody positivity was observed in 2/60 (3.3%), 8/60 (13.3%), and 4/30 (13.3%) patients, before IFN-alpha treatment, and after 6 months and 12 months of therapy, respectively. None of the studied patients developed islet cell antibodies or type 1 diabetes. Before IFN-alpha therapy four patients showed thyroid autoantibodies and four others developed antibodies against thyroglobulin and/or thyroid microsomal antigen during the treatment. Coexistence of insulin autoantibodies and thyroid autoantibodies was observed in only two patients. Our results showed that IFN-alpha therapy in patients with chronic viral hepatitis is capable of inducing development of autoantibodies against insulin. This event seems to be not related to other autoimmune disorders.

PMID: 8769300, UI: 96354658

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